


Is this Doting?

by Floople_Doople



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Me? Completely ignoring my giant pile of WIPs to write this? it's more likely than you think, Me? Write something extremely self indulgent? it's more likely than you think, Multi, Oh Hey It's Trauma, Sick Character, Sickfic, URE-SHII AND EMBER DON'T BELONG TO ME BY THE WAY only Festus does, they are an OT3 and even if they are OCs I love them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26676076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Floople_Doople/pseuds/Floople_Doople
Summary: Festus gets sick, and SHII and Ember take care of him. And even if Festus is grateful...he can't help but be embarrassed that they doted on him so.They...were doting on him...right?
Relationships: Festus/Ure-SHII/Ember
Kudos: 2





	Is this Doting?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FurudeKami](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FurudeKami/gifts).



> Is this entirely OCs? yes  
> Do I regret writing this? absolutely not  
> anyway YOU SHOULD PROBABLY READ THE PROFILES OF THESE THREE BEFORE READING SOOO  
> https://toyhou.se/7878370.festus  
> https://toyhou.se/7845868.ure-shii  
> https://toyhou.se/7845292.ember

Festus knew he was sick as soon as he woke up, to be honest. It wasn’t that difficult to figure out; he winced at the headache he already had pounding away at his head and the fuzziness that seemed to encompass everything. He wondered if he could manage to get out of bed to make something for himself to eat - though, given how he was barely able to lift himself off of the bed, that’d probably have to wait until later. Distantly, a part of him wondered where SHII and Ember were, but somehow the thought vanished as quickly as it came. 

Slowly, Festus began the arduous task of pushing himself out of bed. As weak as he felt, he knew he had to get up eventually; mostly because he couldn't try to sleep this off without getting at least some food in his system. He'd learned that a long time ago. 

He stumbled a bit when he finally managed to push himself upright and off the bed, before steadying himself. He knew if he fell down, there was a pretty good chance of him simply staying on the floor; he'd woken up on the floor many times due to whatever illness had taken hold at the time. 

After waiting a moment for his vision to stop spinning, Festus slowly walked to the door, having to pause every so often to stop from swaying right onto the floor. Once again, the lingering wonder of where Ember and SHII were crossed his mind, but the thought vanished as soon as it appeared.

He eventually made it to the door, after what felt like an eternity of stopping and waiting for his vision to even out. But he’d made it. Now all he had to do was get to the fridge and get a quick snack - just something in his system so he could sleep for the rest of the day. Festus leaned against the door for a moment, wheezing slightly as he rested his head against the cool surface of the door, willing his head to stop spinning. After a moment, he reluctantly pulled away, slowly opening the door and leaning on the wall as he made his way to the kitchen.

Or, that would’ve been the plan, had he not bumped into SHII right as he had been about to take his fifth step out of the bedroom. He admittedly squeaked as he bounced back from the impact, and he might’ve fallen to the floor had SHII not grabbed onto him, hugging him close.

Festus felt his face grow hot when his brain finally processed what was going on, and for reasons other than his fever. 

“What are you doing out of bed?” Festus blinked, realizing belatedly that SHII had been asking him a question. 

“I was...um... I was just...going to the kitchen…” Festus muttered, suddenly feeling rather sheepish. “I was...just going to get, um...something to eat…”

SHII made a noise that even in his hazy state Festus knew meant SHII was displeased. Before Festus could try and explain himself, SHII was bending down, and suddenly Festus found himself being swept off the ground and into SHII’s arms. Festus yelped at that, not expecting it one bit. He ended up holding onto SHII, hiding his face in SHII’s chest and red for reasons entirely unrelated to his fever. 

SHII didn’t say a word as he carried Festus back into the bedroom, placing him back on the bed and tugging the covers out from underneath him to pull them over him. As soon as that was down, SHII gave Festus a rather displeased look that made Festus feel rather embarrassed about the entire situation...for some reason.

"I better not catch you out of bed until you're feeling better unless you need to go to the restroom. If you need something, just let me or Ember know," SHII said simply, “It’s more important that you rest.”

For whatever reason, that made Festus feel as though there was a lump in his throat. The thought that Ember and SHII were willing to just take care of him - dote on him, his brain unhelpfully said - when he was sick, even though he could take care of himself. 

“And...And you’re sure you, um...you don’t mind?” Festus forced himself to ask, before immediately wanting to smack himself for doing so. Unfortunately, his arms were currently trapped under the covers, so he couldn’t do so. SHII, however, raised an eyebrow at that.

“Why do you think we would mind?” SHII asked before his eyes softened. “I’ll be back with some meds for you to take. Then you’re going to stay in this bed and not move unless you absolutely have to.”

And SHII left, presumably to go get the meds - a shortened word for medicine, if Festus was remembering correctly - and leaving Festus lying in bed, wondering how (not for the first time) he got lucky enough to meet Ember and SHII. 

True to his word, SHII returned soon enough with Ember following, the former holding a glass of water and something clenched in his hand and the latter with a bowl of soup that he placed on the nightstand. Though to be honest, Festus wouldn’t have realized they were there until SHII was gently shaking him awake. When had he fallen asleep?

Slowly, SHII helped Festus sit up, stacking the pillows behind him so it’d be easier to sit. Festus almost protested, feeling embarrassed (and yet loved all the same) at how he was being doted over, but SHII shot him a look as soon as Festus opened his mouth that clearly meant he should just stay quiet. So Festus let himself be helped to sit up, and that’s when he noticed that SHII had already placed the medicine - a couple of little capsules that Festus didn’t recognize - and the glass of water by the soup bowl. 

“Make sure you eat some of the soup before you take the ibuprofen! And when you do, drink the water as you do, it will help,” Ember said, a soft tone to his voice that Festus couldn’t quite recognize. “If you need us, just let us know - you don’t have to yell, SHII will know if you call for us.”

SHII nodded at the last statement, before narrowing his eyes. “Remember what I said earlier. No getting out of this bed until you are fully recovered. If I catch you leaving it for any reason other than to go to the restroom, I’m carrying you right back and making sure you stay.”

Festus gulped and nodded. Just SHII’s tone told Festus that SHII was not kidding at all. 

“We’ll let you rest, but we’ll be checking on you later to make sure you ate,” Ember spoke, drawing Festus’s attention back to him. “Don’t worry about cleaning the dishes - the important thing is that you rest.”

Ember gave Festus a soft smile (one that very much made Festus’s heart flutter) before he walked out the door, SHII following closely behind and closing the door behind him. They couldn’t have been gone for more than a minute before Festus felt tears building up in his eyes.

How? How did he get this lucky? No matter how many times he tried to think about it, he just couldn’t come up with a reason he’d be blessed with such loving boyfriends. It made him want to cry. But he managed to hold back his tears, wiping away what had managed to build up in his eyes and carefully drinking a spoonful of the soup. Though whatever was making him sick prevented him from really tasting the soup, it still filled him with warmth, and he managed to eat much more than he thought he would. 

He picked up the ibuprofen - that was what Ember had called it, right? - noting that his hands weren’t shaking nearly as much as before. Probably because he had just eaten. He drank the water as he took the ibuprofen, and after rearranging the pillows, laid back down and fell asleep rather quickly.

The entire time Festus was sick, Ember and SHII doted on him. There were several moments where Festus felt so much love for them that he wanted to cry but managed to keep from doing that. And he also learned that SHII was very much intent on making sure that Festus rested. Anytime Festus had gotten out of bed, SHII was right there to carry Festus back to bed. 

Before long, Festus was feeling all better. It only took a few days until he was feeling better; usually, it’d take weeks until he felt better. While it was most likely because Festus actually rested instead of having to push himself, Festus thought it was because he had Ember and SHII doting on him the entire time. 

Which then came, what Festus thought, was the hardest part. Thanking SHII and Ember for doting on him like they did while he was sick. It was a little embarrassing, maybe, but they had gone out of their way to dote on him and Festus wanted to make sure that they knew he was grateful.

So the next morning, after resting one more day just to make sure that the sickness had been completely flushed from his system, Festus steeled himself for the conversation that was to come. He’d been with Ember and SHII long enough to know that they would say it wasn’t a problem (and that made Festus’s heart soar, at the thought he’d been with them long enough to know what they’d probably say) despite how they went out of their way to dote on him. 

It happened while they were getting up - Ember had already gotten up to get ready for the day, waking SHII up to take his own meds as Festus stayed in bed just a moment longer, readying himself one last time before he spoke.

“Um...Ember, SHII? I, um...I have something I want to say,” Festus said as he sat up in bed, staring at his hands for a moment before looking up to see Ember and SHII look at him.

“Well, what is it?” SHII asked, a questioning look on his face. 

“I, um...I wanted to thank you. For the past few days.” Festus swallowed down the lump of nervousness in his throat as he spoke, trying to force himself to calm down. Ember seemed to look confused for a moment before a soft smile appeared on his face.

“You don’t have to thank us for taking care of you! It wasn’t any trouble, really!” Ember said softly. Even if Festus had been expecting the response, it still made his heart flutter a little to hear Ember say it.

Even so, that was the point. It was trouble, wasn't it?

"But...That's the thing. You didn't have to...to dote on me like you did. I've taken care of myself before, so I could do it again. You didn't have to go out of your way like that." Festus paused. 

Ember and SHII were staring at him with strange looks on their faces. Oh no. Did they think he was ungrateful? That was the exact opposite of what he was trying to say!

"Really, I'm super grateful you doted on me like that!" He quickly said, the panic unfortunately evident in his voice. “I’m really, really grateful! I’m just, um, I’m just saying that you didn’t have to…?”

Festus trailed off, finally recognizing the looks on Ember’s and SHII’s faces.

They were...sad?

“Festus…” Ember’s voice was somehow softer than before, pausing before he continued. “What do you mean by “doting”...?”

SHII didn’t say anything, but Festus could tell that he would’ve asked the same question. Which just confused Festus, almost beyond words.

“What do you mean? You were doting on me, weren’t you? Constantly checking on me, making sure I rested and I got both medicine and food…” Festus didn’t feel so sure anymore. Wasn’t that considered doting? They were caring for him...much more than they should have…

...oh.

“...Oh.” Festus heard himself utter. 

Ember made a pained noise, tears building in his eyes as his hands leapt up to cover his mouth. SHII’s expression just seemed to become ever more sad, yet Festus found he could barely see it. His vision was suddenly growing blurrier, and as he wiped at his eyes, he found that tears kept falling no matter how hard he tried.

“B-But…” Festus found himself beginning to ramble, his voice choking up as he continued, “I thought - that’s, that’s doting, i-isn’t it? H-Having someone e-else caring f-for you like - like that? It wasn’t…”

His voice trailed off into a whisper, finding that he was struggling to speak. “...it wasn’t just...me...that thought that…?”

He had been so preoccupied trying to wipe away his tears and forcing his voice to work that he was caught off guard when Ember pulled him into a hug. On any other day, Ember’s hugs made him feel warm and safe, even if they made him blush enough that he could be mistaken for a tomato. Now, they just made a sob choke its way out of his throat, and Festus almost wished he was able to stop it.

“I promise to you…” Ember was speaking quietly, his voice shaking as he did - yet Festus could hear the determination in his voice from a mile away. Belatedly, he realized that SHII had walked over, hugging Ember and Festus both. “SHII and I...we swear to show you that you deserve to be cared for. That anyone caring for you at all isn’t just them being doting.”

“And we never break our promises,” SHII added, his voice just as quiet as Ember’s but no less determined. “No matter what.”

Any other day, Festus might’ve gotten flustered that he was being hugged like this, being told that he was cared for like this.

Any other day, Festus might’ve turned red as he struggled to find the words to tell them that he cared for them just as much.

But today...all Festus could do was hug the both of them tight and sob, for everything that he had missed and would never gain, and for everything that he had now.

He would never know how he’d been so blessed.

**Author's Note:**

> this was fun to write honestly sjkdhdj I WILL GET TO MY 20000 OTHER WIPS LATER I PROMISE DJKGJK


End file.
